Lemon Bass!

"Really?"

"It worked?"

After ending his call with Dr. Connors and putting down the phone, Hawk found it quite miraculous.

After all, he had originally thought that since this world had Spider-Man but not The Amazing Spider-Man, Dr. Connors's Regeneration Experiment was unlikely to succeed.

Yet unexpectedly...

As Hawk got up and walked out of the bedroom, he thought about his recent conversation with Dr. Connors.

Dr. Connors was in a very good mood, so he shared some fairly detailed information with Hawk.

For example, during the recent lab mouse experiment, he had originally thought this trial would end in failure like all the previous ones.

Then something unexpected happened.

After one lab mouse was injected with the Lizard Serum, its vital signs disappeared at first. But after a while, its vital signs reappeared. Moreover, the tail that had been cut off after it took advantage of last month's accident to escape had begun growing back at a visible rate once its life signs returned.

This discovery greatly excited Dr. Connors.

Hawk found it quite amazing as well.

But only for a moment.

After leaving the bedroom, Hawk sat down at his folding table and turned on the lightly used laptop he had bought from Skye for five hundred dollars. Then he put the matter out of his mind.

Compared to whether Dr. Connors's experiment had succeeded, he cared more about what exactly had happened at Quantico Base.

Very soon.

After searching for information online, Hawk's expression turned strange once more.

There had been no intrusion.

Only a drill.

It was a Washington D.C. newspaper, and it had reported on the intrusion alarm at Quantico Military Base.

But in the paper, the base's spokesperson denied there had been an intrusion, saying that night had merely been a routine drill. However, during the exercise, a building collapse had occurred, and more than a dozen soldiers had unfortunately died.

Yeah.

Quantico had pinned everything on the drill.

That was normal.

Like he had said before.

That was Quantico, home to the Marine Corps. Next door was the FBI's Federal Police Academy, and nearby was the CIA's Langley Headquarters. Under those circumstances, there was no way the military base would admit it had been infiltrated.

As for anything else...

Hawk searched around but found no useful leads.

He could not even find any related report containing keywords that could be linked to the young Little Black's body.

Either the young Little Black's body had not been discovered yet.

Or the young Little Black's death simply was not worth the media's attention.

After all, every year—no, every day—countless Little Blacks died for all sorts of reasons. A Little Black without any identity dying without causing even a ripple was perfectly normal.

Hawk thought for a moment, shook his head, closed the laptop, and got up to head into the bedroom to sleep.

The next day.

Hawk was awakened by a phone call.

Lying in bed, Hawk opened his eyes and saw the picture frame in front of him. Only then did he reach out with his right hand and grab the phone charging on the bedside table.

"Hello."

"Come downstairs."

"..."

Hawk froze for less than a second, then got out of bed, pulled on a T-shirt, and walked to the living room window. He opened it and saw Gwen standing across the street beside that yellow Carola, waving at him.

Oh.

No.

She should be his girlfriend, Gwen.

He still found it somewhat unbelievable.

Let him say it again.

Gwen Stacy was his girlfriend.

Thinking this, Hawk smiled and waved back at Gwen downstairs. Then he hung up and headed for the door.

A moment later.

Hawk appeared at the entrance of the apartment building, crossed the street, and arrived before Gwen.

"What's up?"

"Are you free tonight? My mom invited you over for dinner."

"Uh..."

Lemon bass!

The first thought that flashed through Hawk's mind when he heard Gwen invite him to dinner at her home was precisely that.

After all, in a certain sense, that dish was rather famous.

Hawk's thoughts turned as he looked at Gwen's expectant gaze. After considering it, he nodded.

"Okay."

"Then it's settled. What are you planning to do later?"

"Mm, go to the library and read."

"..."

After saying that, Hawk looked at Gwen, who remained silent and merely smiled at him, then burst out laughing. "This time, I'm really going to the library to read."

After all, school started tomorrow.

Twelfth grade—the final year of high school. If nothing unexpected happened, New York University would send someone over this semester for the final assessment and scholarship confirmation.

Although he kept saying he did not even care whether he could get into New York University.

But...

If possible, he still wanted to go. After all, attending New York University to study law, then finding a way to become a District Attorney or even a judge, had been his dream before he awakened his Cosmo.

And over the past three years, he had been working toward that goal.

Gwen looked at Hawk seriously, then broke into a radiant smile.

"Then let's go."

"Where?"

"Aren't we going to the library? I happen to be going too. Perfect—we can head home in my car after we finish reading. But first, you have to come with me to Osborn Bio-Industry."

"Get in."

Hawk watched Gwen speak as she walked over to the driver's side, opened the door, and gestured for him to get in. Without hesitation, he opened the passenger door and sat down.

Just as he had said.

He really planned to go to the library to study today.

Work and rest should be balanced.

Within his Cosmo, the Phoenix Star Chart transformed into a phoenix. The vividly colored Gamaneon absorbed from Quantico Base flowed through the Phoenix Star Chart.

Phoenix was still refining the Gamaneon with all its strength.

For the entire day, after Hawk and Gwen left Osborn Bio-Industry and arrived at the library, they stayed there quietly reading.

He wanted to go to New York University.

Gwen wanted to go to Berkeley.

Yeah.

Both of them were working hard for their futures.

In the afternoon.

Before leaving, Hawk checked out the book he had not finished reading.

By the time he walked out of the library, Gwen was already waiting in the car.

Nearby, a man who had merely rushed inside to borrow a book and come back out let out a miserable cry when he saw a parking ticket tucked beneath his windshield wiper.

Watching this, Hawk got into the car and asked curiously, "Didn't your car get ticketed?"

Gwen shook her head and said with a smile, "Dad registered my license plate in the police department's system."

Hawk understood.